The Beginning
by CrazieFishFace
Summary: Hi! This is a story about how Lenny's family came together and it's mainly about how Lenny's mom meets Don Lino and raises a family of her own. By the way, this is my first fanfic, so please R&R!
1. The Perfect Life

Hi everyone! This is a story about how Lenny's family came together and it's mainly about how Lenny's mom (I have decided to call her Melanie), who has lived in captivity in an aquarium for her whole life, learns about life in the ocean when she meets Don Lino and raises a family of her own. By the way, this is my first fanfic, so please R&R!

**A.N: This is my first fanfic so please go easy on me! I need advice on writing so constructive criticism would be helpful. **

**The first chapter might seem a bit boring at first, but trust me; the story will get more exiting later on! **

**Hope you enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shark Tale!**

Chapter 1

The waves bobbed gently up and down on the ocean. Melanie could just see the white foam from the window in front of her glass tank, high up on the third floor of the aquarium.

Melanie had lived in the aquarium for a long time. She had been born in a breeding tank downstairs and had been moved to this tank, where she had lived most of her life. However, she had never known what it was like to live in the sea; her natural habitat.

She was quite happy living in the aquarium. Being the only Great White shark in the whole building, she had earned plenty of care and respect from the aquarium staff members, especially Simone, who cleaned her tank and fed her every day. Sometimes, it almost seemed like Simone could understand her, which was odd considering that she was a human and Melanie was a shark.

Melanie's thoughts were interrupted by a small nudge in her left pectoral fin. She turned around to see her tiny companion-Squash, a blue clownfish, smiling up at her.

**(A.N: I don't know if there's actually such thing as a blue clownfish, I just made it up!** **)**.

"Have you ever wondered what it's like to live in the ocean?" she asked him. Squash hesitated and shrugged.

Melanie sighed. Squash was her only fish friend in the aquarium and even though he couldn't really talk, he understood her and was still a good friend.

Just then, Simone walked in with a bucket of fish for her lunch. In the ocean, sharks would have to swim after fish and kill them before eating. Melanie just got hers, already cut and hand-fed straight to her mouth. Life was so easy and perfect in the aquarium.

Melanie gulped the bits of fish down hungrily. Even she found it strange how she ate all this fish, but she wouldn't eat Squash. Squash was her friend. She could never bring herself to kill him.

Melanie looked to see Simone carrying the empty bucket downstairs, when Rita, the head of staff spoke to her: "Hey Simone, do you think that Melanie is ready to be transferred to the sea?"

"Well…she seems to be ready" said Simone.

"Okay, then we're moving her tomorrow. We can't wait any longer"

"I'll miss her" added Simone.

"Yeah, so will I" said Rita.

Melanie watched as they both went downstairs.

She couldn't understand human-talk so she had no idea what they were talking about. She looked out the window. It was getting dark. Feeling tired, she fell asleep, unaware that this would be her last night at the aquarium.

**N: Well, that's the first chapter! (Sorry its a bit short) Please read and review so that I know what you think about it!**

**I'll upload the next chapter as soon as possible! **


	2. Cast away

**A.N: Okay everyone! Here's the next chapter! It's a bit more exiting than the first one (I hope) Thanks to the people who reviewed my first chapter! Your reviews are really important to me! :D **

**Enjoy! **

Chapter 2

Melanie woke up, feeling restless. She looked out the window again. It was still dark.

Although it wasn't even morning yet, there was lots of noise, the lights were on, and humans were walking around everywhere, carrying all kinds of weird stuff like diving suits and huge cameras.

Squash was swimming around the tank like a miniature out-of-control submarine.

"Hey, what's the matter?" asked Melanie. "What's going on here?"

Just then, Simone came up to Melanie's tank. She smiled at Melanie sadly. "Goodbye Melanie", she said.

Melanie knew that Simone was upset about something, but what? She couldn't understand people-talk at all. She tried to ask Simone what was the matter, but she knew that Simone probably couldn't understand fish-talk either.

"What's happening?" Melanie asked again.

At that moment, a man wearing a wetsuit came up to her tank and stood next to Simone. He was holding something that looked like a gun but had a sharp pointed dart mounted on the end of it. He climbed up to the top of the tank, which had been opened for some strange reason.

Melanie didn't like the look of this guy, ever since she saw him holding the gun. She quickly swam behind a huge rock.

"Get down Squash!" she said to her tiny fish-friend who had just collided with one of the tank walls.

Simone held out some fish for Melanie to eat. Melanie didn't know if she should go up and get the tiny bit of fish. She knew that she could trust Simone, but that man was still up there with the gun.

Melanie swam to the top of the tank slowly, feeling wary. She opened her huge mouth and grabbed the fish that Simone was holding out to her. As she chewed it up, she felt more relaxed. Maybe she was just overreacting after all.

Melanie saw Simone say something to the man with the gun, as he moved closer, slowly.

Then, everything happened at once.

The man suddenly lunged forward and pulled the trigger of the strange-looking gun. Simone turned away and covered her eyes with her hands as the razor-sharp dart pierced Melanie's side, just in front of her dorsal fin.

An overwhelming numbness flowed through Melanie's entire body as the dart embedded itself in her flesh. The aquarium around her began to fade slowly, as she blacked out.

When Melanie woke up, she felt awful. The pain was gone but she was still feeling very stiff and sluggish. She swam idly around the empty tank…'Wait a minute… _empty_ tank?'

That's when she realised that she was no longer in the aquarium. She was in a small glass tank with rather thin walls. All around her, there were huge wooden crates and boxes.

Only yesterday, she had been swimming around in the aquarium, laughing at Squash. 'Squash!' Melanie had not seen her little friend ever since she had been hit with the dart. Thankfully, Squash had been hiding right behind her dorsal fin, his usual hiding place.

She realised that she was on a ship. Melanie had never been on a ship before. The only time she had ever seen one was when she saw a picture of the Titanic, in the aquarium.

Melanie knew that the Titanic was a huge ship which had sunk a long time ago, drowning many humans. She had often wondered where the wreck of the Titanic would be and if anyone would ever find it.

"I don't like this", she said to Squash. "I want to go back to the aquarium".

Melanie and Squash could both see the ocean. The waves were so much bigger and rougher when they were closer up.

Suddenly the humans stopped the ship. Melanie watched as a group of them lifted a huge, heavy anchor and hurl it over the edge of the ship.

As it fell into the water with an enormous splash, Melanie hated to think what would happen to any poor fish who would be unfortunate enough to swim under it at that very moment. An anchor like that would probably be able to kill a whale.

Another huge bunch of people walked up to Melanie's tank and hooked it up to a weird machine. All of a sudden, Melanie and Squash felt the tank being lifted higher into the air.

"Squash, what's happening?" asked Melanie. Suddenly, the tank stopped moving and Melanie could see the ocean below, through the glass bottom of her tank.

The tank was now slowly being lowered into the sea. Before she could say anything, the tank was submerged in the sea and Melanie could hardly see the people above her on the ship.

A diver jumped into the water and slid back the lid of the tank. The diver was Simone. As the lid was pulled back, Melanie felt a rush of seawater enter her tank. Real seawater, not the aquarium water she had been born and raised in for her whole life.

Simone smiled at Melanie and motioned her to come outside of the tank, into the sea.

Melanie looked nervously at Squash. "Should I go?" she asked.

Simone held out a piece of fish for Melanie again. Melanie looked at it hungrily. "Well, I guess its okay, just for a little while". She swam out of the tank, right up to Simone, and took the fish which she finished in two seconds.

Then, something odd happened. The tank was lifted back up onto the ship. "How will I get back on board?" wondered Melanie.

Simone swam close to Melanie, she was smiling, but she looked very sad. She gently stroked Melanie's head and then swam away, towards the ship.

"Hey! What about me?" said Melanie, who was now starting to panic. Why did Simone leave her?

She quickly swam up to the surface of the ocean to get a view of the ship. To Melanie's horror, the ship had started moving away, leaving her behind!

Melanie swam after the ship in vain. "Wait! Don't leave me here!" she shouted, "STOP!". The waves roared and towered above her. No one would hear her now.

The ship was no longer in sight. Melanie looked around desperately but all she saw was miles and miles of endless sea, with huge waves crashing down on her. They both swam under the water.

Squash looked at her sorrowfully.

"It's no use Squash" said Melanie. "We're stuck here forever".

**(A.N:** **I hope you all enjoyed that chapter. Please read and review!)**


	3. Survival

**A.N: Okay, here's the next chapter! I really hope that you enjoyed the last one! Again, thanks to the people who reviewed! Please tell me if there's anything I need to improve on :D**

Chapter 3:

Melanie looked around. They appeared to be in some kind of wasteland.

She swam around for a few minutes. "At least it's calmer and more quiet down here" she said. Squash nodded his head in agreement. The rough, noisy waves were more than enough to drive anyone crazy.

The wasteland was very quiet and there didn't seem to be anyone around. "Hello..." called Melanie, hoping that someone would answer. "Is anyone here?"

There was no answer, so Melanie and Squash decided that they would try to learn how to survive, now that they were in the ocean.

"Okay," said Melanie, "First, we'll need to find some food". They looked around and Squash found some kelp, which he happily started nibbling.

"If only I could find some fish" said Melanie. In the aquarium, Simone had hand-fed her pieces of fish, but now she would have to find it for herself.

"Come on Squash" she said. "Let's go this way and see if we can find anything else."

After swimming for what seemed like ages, Melanie and Squash came to a big pile of rocks. Melanie looked over the rocks and smiled. "Bingo."

Just beyond the rocks, there was a huge reef, full of fish and many other sea creatures. Melanie knew that she would have to hunt one down, kill it and then eat it. She didn't like the idea of having to kill an innocent fish, but what choice did she have? If she didn't catch a fish, she would go hungry and die within the next week.

Slowly, she swam past the rocks and towards the reef, leaving Squash behind the rocks to eat some kelp.

Melanie looked around the reef. There were so many fish here. She had never seen anything like it in her whole life. She focused on one fish in particular. A fat, pink/purple fish who was rather old and flabby. Melanie watched as the fat fish yelled at a bunch of little fish, telling them that it was past their bedtime.

'Hmm… she looks fat so she would give me plenty of food for weeks…' thought Melanie 'Also, all that flabby fat would slow her down, making her much easier to catch…'

"Okay, here we go..." said Melanie, getting ready to swim to the reef and catch the flabby pink fish. Melanie had never tried to attack a fish and she barely knew how to, but she knew that she would have to, if she wanted to survive.

Taking a deep breath, Melanie swam towards the reef at full speed, eyes focused on the fat fish. The effect was immediate. A huge wave of panic rippled through the whole reef. Fish swam around frantically, screaming; "SHARK! SHARK!" or "SWIM FOR YOUR LIVES!"

In all the commotion, Melanie had lost sight of the fat pink fish that she had been intending to catch, so instead, she tried to get any other fish around her. She snapped at a fish that was close by, but missed. All these fish were way too fast for her to catch and she wasn't that fast after living in an aquarium for her whole life. Her tank was much too small to move around in, and she wouldn't even need to swim this fast in the first place, because her food was just hand-fed to her.

Melanie tried, again and again to catch a fish, but could never seem to get one. After about twenty minutes, all her energy had gone and she eventually gave up, after crashing into a huge billboard which read: 'Welcome to Southside Reef'.

Feeling worn-out and humiliated, Melanie swam slowly back to the rocks, where Squash was stuffing his face with kelp.

Melanie felt hungrier than ever, now that she had wasted so much energy, trying to catch a fish. She looked around desperately. Maybe there was a tiny crab, maybe even a shrimp… The only edible thing she could see was Squash's kelp. Squash saw her looking and generously held out some kelp for her.

Melanie sighed. "Sharks aren't supposed to eat kelp" she said. But she was so hungry that she could eat just about anything right now. "Well, I guess just a little bit of kelp won't hurt…thank-you Squash". She took the bit of kelp which Squash had been holding out and chewed on it. "This tastes…good…" she said. Melanie hadn't expected _kelp_ to taste so nice, she thought that fish was the only food that sharks could, and should eat. She tugged on the kelp and greedily stuffed her mouth full.

Just then, Melanie saw a boat in the distance. The boat was dragging a huge net behind it, meaning that it was probably a fishing boat. It was coming towards them fast. "Swim Squash!" said Melanie, "It'll run us over if we don't hurry!" They swam as fast as their fins could carry them, but Melanie was getting tired every second. The boat came closer and closer.

Melanie felt pain flow through her, as the bottom part of the boat collided with her head. In a daze, she tumbled backwards… and straight into the huge fishing net.

She struggled so hard that the whole bottom part of the net was ripped off and the boat went on its way with only the top half of the fishing net.

Melanie was struggling desperately in the net. "Squash, help me!" she called to her only friend. Squash rushed over and tried nibbling at the net, but it was no use. The ropes were way too tough for a little fish to bite through.

Melanie knew that her own teeth could definitely tear the ropes, but she was in an awkward position and her jaws couldn't reach the net, which was tangled around her body, so she couldn't even move her pectoral fins.

'I have to get out of here now!' thought Melanie. She twisted and wriggled about for what seemed like hours and hours and finally gave up, as night-time came closer.

She would never be able to free herself from the fishing net. If she didn't die from starvation first, she would drown hopelessly, stuck in this horrible net.

Despite Squash's efforts to comfort her, she closed her eyes and cried herself to sleep.

**A.N: Please read and review! :D**


	4. Sharks

**A.N: Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't updated for a while! I had heaps of homework so I wasn't able to do anything for ages. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter!**

Chapter 4

Melanie woke up. It was still night and everything was quiet. She knew that she would had to get out of this fishing net soon, otherwise she would be an easy target for other predators.

_Other predators…_ Melanie tried to think of every wild sea creature which could try to harm her. There were killer whales, giant octopuses, manta rays, and of course, other sharks.

"Oh my gosh, I have to get out of here _now_", said Melanie to Squash.

She tried wriggling and twisting about for another five minutes and stopped. "It's no use" she said. Just as she was trying to think of a plan to get herself out of the situation, she froze. Melanie could detect vibrations in the water, and she knew they weren't coming from Squash. "Sshhh!" she whispered to Squash. "We're not alone…"

"Stay very still" Melanie whispered to Squash, who instantly darted behind her dorsal fin. As Melanie lay there, tangled in the net, she saw three dark silhouettes emerge from the murky blue water. They were obviously larger sea creatures. As they came closer, she could see that the one in the middle was an octopus, and the other two on the sides were sharks.

Melanie stared at them in horror, trembling; waiting for them to lunge forward and rip her to smithereens… the octopus leaned forward and opened its mouth…

"Hey, how ya doin?" asked the octopus. It was too much for poor Melanie. She screamed louder than she had ever done before, thrashing and writhing uncontrollably in the net.

The octopus was alarmed. "Whoa! Whoa, lady! Calm down!"

"Don't hurt me! Have mercy!" cried Melanie, "PLEASE!"

"You're stuck aren't you?" asked the octopus. "Boys! Get her out!" The two other sharks swam up to her and in two seconds, had ripped of the net with their sharp teeth. As soon as she was free, Melanie turned around to leave, but when she tried to swim away, the two sharks grabbed her by the fins. "Hey! Let me go!" she protested.

"Sorry", said the octopus, "But since you're a new shark, we can't have you wonderin' around by yourself. New sharks can be a threat to our mob and that's the last thing we need". "But wait!" said Melanie, "Where are you taking me?"

"We're takin' you to meet our new boss" said one of the sharks, who was a hammerhead shark. Without another word, the octopus started heading in another direction, followed by the two sharks, who dragged Melanie along. Squash managed to stay hidden behind Melanie's dorsal fin, his presence unknown to the sharks.

After about twenty minutes, the octopus said "Here we are, at last" In the distance, Melanie could see the dark shape of a colossal shipwreck, looming over them.

They swam through a large hole which might have once been a porthole. When Melanie went inside, she was shocked.

The whole room was full of sharks. They were all over the place; sitting around tables, swimming around carrying things, drinking and smoking. They stared at Melanie as she swam past and she could hear them muttering amongst themselves. She had never seen so many sharks in her entire life.

The octopus left Melanie at the table with the two other sharks. "Wait here, I'll get the boss" "Yeah, okay Luca" mumbled the hammerhead shark. Melanie was nervous. What was this 'boss' like? Would he tear her apart? Rip her fins off? Eat her alive? Just then, a door at the back of the room opened and Luca the octopus swam out, followed by a large Great White shark.

Now, all the sharks in this room had looked exactly the same to Melanie, or so it had seemed at first. There was something… different about this shark. The other sharks had crooked snouts, were too plump, or were missing a few of their teeth. Although this shark was large, he was not overweight, his features were perfect and he had clean, white teeth- which were also sharp enough to turn her from a Great White shark into a Great White pulp.

Melanie was still nervous, but she wasn't so nervous about getting eaten or anything like that. This was a different kind of nervousness.

The big shark sat down directly in front of her and Luca sat next to him. Was Luca like, his right hand octopus or something? "Here she is Don Lino sir. We found her, not far from Southside Reef"

Don Lino looked at Melanie. He had light, stormy blue eyes, unlike hers, which were a bright emerald green. "What's your name?" he asked her. "M…Melanie", replied Melanie. "Where are you from?" he asked.

"I…I…I'm from the a…aquarium" stammered Melanie, feeling herself blush. "Aquarium?" asked Don Lino, looking confused. Then, Luca spoke "Hey, ain't that the place where they keep fish in glass cages?"

"Oh, so you're one of those are you?" asked the mob boss. "How'd you get here?"

"It's a long story sir" said Melanie.

"Okay" said Don Lino, "I suppose you know by now that I am the leader of this mob and every shark here works for me?"

"Yes sir" said Melanie.

"Where do you live at the moment?" he asked her.

"I don't have a home sir" Melanie said, feeling her fins turning to jelly.

He continued talking. "In that case, you're allowed to stay here at the Titanic as long as you agree to follow the rules and don't hurt anyone"

"Thank you so much sir" said Melanie gratefully. "I really appreciate what you are doing for me"

The mob boss nodded at Luca. "Luca, show Melanie her room". "Sure thing boss" said Luca cheerfully. He seemed to be happy that Melanie would be living with them.

"See you at dinner time" said Don Lino, before he went to talk to a group of sharks who seemed to be fighting over an empty bottle of beer.

Melanie smiled back and followed Luca. As they swam through the huge, wide corridors of the Titanic, Luca talked to her.

"The boss seems to like you Melanie. It ain't so often he lets random sharks stay here with us"

"Really?" said Melanie, feeling strangely happy for some reason, "I just hope that I don't mess anything up while I'm here"

They continued swimming through the corridors and just as Melanie was about to ask when they would finally get to her room, Luca stopped at a rather large door, which was also a bit rusty from being under water for such a long time. "This must be it, room 86" said Luca, looking at a small bit of paper in one of his tentacles and opening the door "Go in".

Melanie swam through the door. "Wow, it's amazing!" she said. In the corner of the room was a comfy looking single bed with curtains and pillows. Melanie had expected something more like a prison cell.

Luca also seemed surprised. "He doesn't normally give rooms like this to newcomers" he muttered. Melanie swam over to the wardrobe, which was huge, but empty.

"Okay, you got twenty minutes until dinner time" said Luca, "See ya then!" he said as he swam back through the corridors from where they had come.

Melanie looked around the room and sat on the bed. Feeling tired, she fell asleep for about fifteen minutes and then woke up again. She was slightly shocked when Squash swam out from behind her dorsal fin and smiled up at her. "Geez Squash, I almost forgot about you there!" said Melanie. "We mustn't let the sharks see you though, they might hurt you" Melanie looked at the clock. It was 8 o clock; dinner time. "Quick, hide!" she said as she pushed Squash behind her dorsal fin and swam out through the door of her room.

When Melanie finally arrived at the dining room (after getting lost in the corridors a few times), she was surprised to see that all the sharks had dinner at exactly the same time. The room was full of tables and about four sharks sat at each one. A group of sharks sat in a corner, playing musical instruments.

Don Lino was already sitting at a table with Luca the octopus and the other two sharks. Melanie sat by herself at a single table and watched as a swordfish served her a plate of fish. She hadn't eaten fish ever since she had been abandoned in the sea. On the side of the dish, there were bits of kelp, which Squash nibbled silently, while Melanie ate the fish.

Just then, an old leopard shark swam up to her table "How ya doin beautiful?" he said in a flirting tone "Marry me", he breathed in her face.

Melanie didn't like the look of this horrible old shark. His rotten teeth were falling out and his breath reeked of sea cucumbers and starfish (not a nice combination). The old geezer was obviously drunk. He farted and Melanie almost lost consciousness from the horrible smell.

As he leaned closer, Melanie could see bits of starfish and sea slug in his teeth. It was all she could do to stop herself from throwing up and having a fit. Melanie backed away, not knowing what to do. She was desperate for help.

"Hey, leave her alone Don Feinberg!" said Don Lino. However, Fienberg ignored him and continued to torment Melanie, who was now helplessly unsure of what to do. "I told you to leave her alone!" said Lino, now starting to get annoyed. As he swam over to help Melanie, Fienberg pushed over Melanie's chair and pinned Melanie to the ground. Squash was bumped out from underneath her.

Fienberg saw Squash and went insane. "FISH!" he yelled. By now, all the sharks in the room were watching and whispering to each other.

"No! Wait!" gasped Melanie urgently. But Fienberg had already started chasing Squash around the room, knocking over tables, chairs, sharks and all.

"FIENBERG! STOP!" shouted Lino. "Giuseppe! Lorenzo!" The hammerhead and the other shark rushed over. "Stop him!" said Lino. The two sharks swam towards Fienberg and grabbed his fins but he struggled and escaped, knocking out Lorenzo.

Squash swam frantically towards Melanie who caught him between her fins. Just as Fienberg moved forward to grab him and eat him, she held Squash above her head, out of his reach and yelled "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

The entire room of sharks stared at her in shock. The music-playing sharks stopped and dropped their instruments in disbelief, making the room completely silent. Even Don Lino was surprised. Was she crazy? What kind of shark would defend a puny, weak little fish?

Feeling mortified with all the sharks staring at her, Melanie hurried out of the dining room, through the corridors and straight to her bedroom.

She looked at Squash who looked upset that he had caused her so much embarrassment. "Don't worry" she told him. "I would never let anybody hurt you"


	5. Nobody loves us

**A.N) Hi again! Here's the next chapter of my story! (Sooooooo sorry it took so long, I was on city camp!) There's also a song in this chapter ('Somebody to love' by Glee) sorry if the lyrics aren't that accurate, I might have changed a few words. Also, I noticed that no one's reviewed chapter 4. Is there something wrong with it? I would really appreciate it if someone could review! Enjoy!**

Chapter 5

The next morning was quiet. Melanie swam cautiously into the room where the sharks were having breakfast. It was the same room where they had dinner but Don Lino had already finished breakfast and was not around. Neither was Fienberg. This time, Melanie had made the wiser decision of leaving Squash in her bedroom where he would be safe.

As she swam to her table, Melanie could feel the eyes of the sharks on her. Obviously her embarrassing performance last night had not left their memories.

She sat down, desperately wanting someone to end the awkward silence. Then, just as Melanie thought she should leave the room again, Luca spoke to her:

"Um…sorry about Don Fienberg last night" he said awkwardly. "He was just really drunk, that's all…"

"Oh, it's okay…" said Melanie wearily.

"Ya know, I don't like that Fienberg…very controlling and possessive he is…" muttered Lorenzo. "Yeah, he's only here to help the boss with runnin' the reef but he treats us as if we were grains of sand beneath his tailfin" said Luca.

"Why does Don Lino need help with running the reef?" asked Melanie curiously. "Well, he's still young, like you. He needs to get used to controlling of the whole mob" explained Luca.

"Feinberg is obviously taking advantage of the fact that he is young and inexperienced" mumbled Giuseppe.

"Is Fienberg really unkind to you?" asked Melanie, starting to feel sorry for the sharks around her. She had no idea that there would be problems like this, especially for a fierce mob of sharks.

"Oh he's mean all right" said Luca. "Ya know, he killed a shark once, when he got drunk…"

"Oh yeah… poor Benjamin… such a good shark, always did the right thing…" sighed Lorenzo, shaking his head sadly.

"That's awful!" said Melanie. What if this crazy shark killed her one day?

"That's not all" continued Luca. "He wants us to go hunting for fish every day now, in Southside Reef. Last month alone, twenty of our sharks were killed by motor boats. There's so many dangers between this hideout and the reef…"

"Why doesn't Don Lino kick him out then?" asked Melanie. "He would, but Fienberg threatens him so many times" said Luca.

"Yeah. Once I heard Fienberg say to Lino that if he ever challenges him, our whole mob will be slaughtered along with most of Southside Reef!" whispered Giuseppe in a worried tone.

Melanie gasped. "Somebody has to do something about this guy!" she said.

"Yeah!" said Lorenzo. "She has a point ya know. I mean, we can't go on like this forever…"

"Fienberg abuses and insults us whenever he gets the chance" said Giuseppe. "He tells us every day that we're stupid and worthless and that nobody likes us."

"Yeah, and thanks to him, nobody _does_ like us" said Luca. "He's totally ruined the reputation of our mob. Three times this year I've tried to find myself a nice girl to settle down with and three times I've failed!"

"That's so sad…" sighed Melanie. "I'm sure there's somebody for you out there…you just need to find her…"

Then, a rather extraordinary thing happened. Luca and the sharks began to sing:

Lorenzo: _Can…_

Other sharks: _Anybody… find me…somebody to…love_

(Luca plays a rather sad tune on the piano)

Melanie: _Ohhhh ohhh ohh_

_Each morning I get up I die a little_

_ Can barely stand on my fins_

Luca: _Take a look in the mirror and cry "Lord _what _you're doing to me__?"_

Melanie: _I spend all my years in believing you_

_But I just can't get no relief Lord_

All: _Somebody, ohh somebody_

_Can anybody find me…_

Luca: _Somebody to love_

(The band of sharks with the instruments starts playing and joins in with Luca's piano)

Giuseppe: _I work hard_

Other sharks:_ (He works hard)_

Giuseppe: _Every day of my life_

Melanie and Giuseppe: _I work till I ache in my bones_

Giuseppe: _At the end_

Other sharks: (_At the end of the day)_

Giuseppe: _I take home my hard earned pay all on my own_

Melanie:_ I get down on my knees _

_And I start to pray_

_Till the tears roll down my eyes _

_ Lord…_

All: _Somebody_

_Ohh somebody_

_Can anybody find me…_

Melanie: _Somebody to love_

Other sharks: (_He works hard)_

Giuseppe: _ohh every day_

Other sharks: (_Every day)_

Giuseppe: _I try and I try and I try_

Melanie: _But everybody wants to pull me down_

_They say I'm goin' crazy_

Luca: _They say I've got a lot of water in my brain_

_Got no common sense_

_I've got nobody left to believe_

Other sharks and Luca:_ (__Yeah - yeah yeah yeah …)_

The sharks and some killer whales start dancing around the room, while the band of sharks keep playing music and Luca keeps going on the piano.

Other sharks: (_ooh o__h Lord)_

Luca: _Somebody_

Luca and Melanie: _Ohh somebody_

All: _Can anybody find me_

Melanie: _Somebody to love_

Other sharks: (_ooh…Everybody…find me…someone to love…)_

Lorenzo: _Got no feel, I got no rhythm_

_I just keep losing my beat_

Other sharks: (_You just keep losing your beat)_

Melanie: _I'm okay, I'm alright_

Other sharks: (_She's alright, she's alright)_

Melanie: _Ain't gonna face no defeat_

All: _I just gotta get outta this prison cell_

_Some day I'm gonna be free Lord!_

Other sharks+ Killer whales: (_Find me somebody to love)_

_(Find me somebody to love)_

_(Find me somebody to love)_

_(Find me somebody to love)_

_(Find me somebody to love)_

_(Find me somebody to love)_

_(Find me somebody to love)_

_(Find me somebody to love)_

_(Love love love )_

_(Find me somebody to love)_

_(Find me somebody to love)_

Killer whales: _Somebody_

Sharks: _Somebody_

Killer whales: _Somebody_

Sharks: _Somebody_

Killer whales: _Somebody_

Sharks: _Somebody_

Killer whales and sharks: _Somebody _

_Find me somebody to love_

All: _Can anybody find me…_

(Giuseppe and Lorenzo help Melanie to get up onto a table so she is above all the other sharks.)

Melanie: _Somebody to…_

_Love…_

The other sharks start dancing around the table singing:

_(Find me, somebody to love…)_

_(Find me, somebody to love…)_

Melanie: _somebody find me…_

Giuseppe: _Find me…_

Other sharks: (_Somebody to love)_

Melanie: _Find me…_

Other sharks: (_Find me…)_

Melanie: _Somebody to…_

Other sharks: (_Somebody to…)_

All: _Love_

…

At the end of the song, all the sharks looked at Melanie in admiration and applauded loudly.

"Wow, I had no idea you could sing so well!" said Luca. "How'd ya learn to sing like that?"

"I actually don't know" replied Melanie. "I guess it's because I used to write songs and sing whenever I got bored in the aquarium"

Just then, the door at the back of the room opened and Don Lino came in. The sharks suddenly became silent and went back to eating and mumbling amongst themselves.

"Hey boss" said Luca.

"Could I please talk to Melanie in private?" asked the Don.

"Sure, go on Melanie" said Luca, gently pushing Melanie forward.

"We'll talk in my office" said Don Lino, motioning for Melanie to follow him. Melanie suddenly felt terrified. Were the sharks not allowed to sing around here? Would she be in trouble for singing with them?

"Have I done something wrong?" she asked timidly.

"Of course not" replied Lino. "There's just a few things I wanna ask you"

They finally reached Lino's office and sat down.

"Okay." he said. "I was goin' past the dining room this morning and I overheard some of the things you were discussing with the other sharks."

Melanie looked at him nervously. "Y-yes…" she stammered.

He continued talking; "I noticed how well you seem to get along with them and I've decided to make you an offer."

"Yes sir?" said Melanie, curious to know what the offer might be.

"How would you like to join the main group of sharks with Luca, Giuseppe and Lorenzo?"

Melanie was astounded. "You mean you want me to work with the highest group of sharks in the whole cruise ship?" she asked. "I'm not sure if I'm really up to it. After all, I'm still new here"

"What do you mean?" asked Lino, "They seem to like you a lot more than most newcomers; I've never heard them sing like that."

"Besides", he added "You seem more intelligent than most new sharks. I've had to kick out most of the new sharks that come here because they've tried to kill one of our members."

"Well, if you really want me to, okay!" said Melanie hesitantly. After all, this new position might mean that she would be safer from mean sharks like Fienberg.

"Umm… that's all I wanted to say to you" said Don Lino rather awkwardly. "Thank you so much sir" said Melanie gratefully, as she swam out the door.

Lino watched her swim happily towards the corridors, accidentally bumping into a swordfish on her way there and knocking over a bowl of live shrimps which the swordfish was carrying. He couldn't help smiling as he watched her apologizing repeatedly to the swordfish, picking up the shrimps which were starting to escape. Melanie was crazy. She had stood up for a fish, something that no sane shark would ever do. But there was something about her…she was…different from other female sharks that he had met. She was also much more attractive… and beautiful…

Just then, Luca the octopus came in through the office door and swam up to Don Lino, interrupting his thoughts. "Oooh…" he said, playfully nudging the mob boss "Looks like you've finally found someone to settle with…"

Lino nudged Luca back. "Don't be stupid. I need more sharks in our team" he said, embarrassed and slightly annoyed at Luca seeing him like this.

But Luca knew that tone too well. It was quite obvious that the boss was trying to cover up his feelings for Melanie. So he just said: "Okay boss, whatever you say…" and swam out of the room, thrilled that this day has finally come.

**A.N) I'll update as soon as I can! Again, sorry I took so long before!**


	6. First meeting

**A.N. Okay, I'm reeeeealy sorry that I haven't been able to update for like months. I had exams and other stuff holding me down so I couldn't do anything. I have posted both chapter 6 **_**and**_** chapter 7 so make sure you read both! Please, please PLEASE review! J**

Chapter 6

Melanie was delighted about her new position in the community of sharks. She had only been here a few days and was already in the top group of sharks, working with Don Lino.

In just a few minutes, she would be attending her first meeting with Lino, Luca, Giuseppe and Lorenzo, as well as other important sharks, killer whales and swordfish.

As she swam in through the entry of the meeting room, she felt slightly nervous.

The meeting room was large with a huge table big enough for about twenty sharks. There were probably a lot of sit-downs held in this room as there were two tough-looking killer whales guarding the entrance.

Melanie looked at the clock. Thankfully, she was on time. She looked over at the table and saw that there were already a few sharks sitting there, waiting. Giuseppe and Lorenzo sat next to each other on one side, talking silently. They were the only sharks in the room that Melanie recognised. Giuseppe saw her and waved, signalling for her to come and sit next to them: "Hey Melanie! Over here!"

Feeling rather relieved, Melanie sat down in an empty seat next to them. "Hey guys! It's such a relief to see you here!"

Lorenzo smiled. "Aah, don't worry. You'll get to know everyone in no time at all!"

"There's still a few minutes till everyone arrives so we can just relax for a while" said Giuseppe.

Melanie looked around at the sharks sitting at the table. Don Lino had still not arrived and neither had Luca. There was a whole group of killer whales sitting together, making jokes and laughing, there were a couple of swordfish arguing with a mako shark over who was the better species and there were two bull sharks, sharing a plate of grilled flounder. Their table manners were disgusting. Melanie decided that if she ever had children, she would make sure that they never develop such revolting table manners.

Melanie also noticed that she was the only female shark sitting here at this table. All the others were males. Looking around the room again, Melanie saw a shark who she had not noticed before. He was a rather elderly, respectable-looking Great White shark and there was nothing unusual about him at first. Then, Melanie noticed that he looked very sad and depressed. He didn't talk to anyone or smile, he just sat there, sighing and waiting patiently.

Presently, Luca swam through the door and rushed to a seat which had been allocated for him. He then put one of his tentacles on a big chair next to him. "I'm savin' this seat for the boss!" he announced for everyone to hear.

"Yeah, yeah…" muttered one of the bull sharks through a mouthful of flounder, "the boss _always_ sits there you stupid moron. Stop stating the obvious!"

Luca kept his tentacle on the seat anyway and started talking to Melanie. "How do ya feel about your first meeting?" he asked in an excited voice. "I don't know…" said Melanie "A little nervous I guess"

At last, Don Lino swam into the meeting room followed by another shark. To Melanie's horror, she saw that it was Don Fienberg. He sat down next to Don Lino and gave Melanie a filthy look that made her want to sink through the floor.

The meeting began. Don Lino looked around at the sharks sitting at the table. "I would like to begin this meeting by introducing our new member, Melanie."

Everyone clapped and cheered, smiling at her. Don Lino gave her an approving nod but Fienberg and a couple of his thugs glared at her.

Melanie noticed that the elderly Great White shark didn't really clap, but she saw a faint smile pass over his face for one or two seconds.

Suddenly, Fienberg rose from his seat.

"Boss, we can't have a female shark in this group, it's preposterous!" he yelled, pointing at Melanie.

"Fienberg, sit down at once!" snapped Don Lino. However, Finberg ignored him and continued to pick on Melanie. "Look at her! So young...so pretty..." he was now circling her and once again, Melanie had that horrible uncomfortable feeling. "She should be working in the kitchen with the other female sharks!" he yelled at Don Lino who was now bearing his teeth in fury. He then turned his attention back to Melanie. "Marry me sweetheart..." he breathed in her face.

Melanie was furious. This horrible old shark was bullying her, trying to make her look shallow and inferior. No. She would not let him get away with this. As the old shark leaned closer to her, she lunged forward, opening her jaws as wide as she could and sank her sharp teeth into his snout.

Fienberg roared in pain and jumped backwards, dazed. He then shook his head and charged at her.

Don Lino had seen enough of this. He was not going to let this creep ruin everything. Before Fienberg could hit Melanie, he swam forward and bit him, tearing the thick hide. Blood flowed from the wound,

Fienberg gnashed his rotten teeth and lunged at Lino again and again, but the mob boss was too quick for him and Fienberg kept missing.

Melanie watched in horror as the two sharks fought. She tried yelling "Stop! Stop!" but realised that it was no use.

Suddenly, Fienberg hooked his teeth into one of Lino's pectoral fins. The sea had now started to turn red with blood.

The mob boss winced in pain but managed to pin Fienberg to the wall. Lino looked at Fienberg with a cold expression.

"This is MY ship and I make the decisions around here!" Don Lino yelled at Fienberg. "And if you ain't gonna follow my orders, I'll rip ya to pieces, got it!"

He moved back to his seat next to Luca. "Now get outta here! You and your thugs!"

Fienberg swam sluggishly out through the door, followed by his two thugs, muttering curses under his breath.

It was now evening. Melanie was in the hospital area of the shipwreck, helping the nurse sharks to take care of Don Lino's pectoral fin. He had won the fight but Fienberg had left his pectoral fin in shreds. Melanie sighed. "I'm sorry about what happened today at the meeting" she said.

"It's not your fault" said Lino. "Fienberg needed to learn his lesson"

After the nurse sharks had finished cleaning the wound and bandaging it, the mob boss thanked them and started and swimming towards his office. Melanie followed him.

"I really am sorry sir" she said. "I shouldn't have bitten him and provoked him"

"He would have hurt you anyway" Lino replied. "I've gotta say though, you were very brave to bite him like that. Not many sharks have the guts to stand up against him"

"Oh, thank you sir" said Melanie, feeling herself blush.

Don Lino nodded "Yes, the other sharks have all been talking about you. They admire you a lot"

Melanie had another question which had been on her mind for a while.

"Who was that elderly shark who sat near you at the meeting this afternoon?" she asked.

"Oh, that was Richard" said Lino. "He's been living here for ages. He's a really good shark. He helps me and Luca organise everything, very intelligent he is"

"How come he seems so sad all the time?" asked Melanie, remembering the sad expression on the poor shark's face.

"Well, he's had a really tough past" replied Lino. "Ya see, back when he was young, he was married and his wife was about to have a baby. They were really happy about that but before the baby was born; Richard's wife was taken away by the humans on a boat, in a huge glass tank. He never saw her again"

"My god, that's so sad..." said Melanie.

He nodded. "They say that the humans took her to an aquarium, and that's where she had her baby"

"I grew up in an aquarium..." said Melanie.

"What's it like, living up there?" asked Lino.

"Well...it's a very easy life. Humans do everything for you. They feed you so you don't have to chase after your food like you do in the ocean; they clean your tank, human children come right up to you just to look at you..."

"Sounds very interesting... Do you miss your life back there?"

Melanie sighed. "I don't know. It was much easier up there but it gets kinda...boring I guess. I mean, I've only been down here for a few weeks and I've already experienced more than I could possibly experience in a _lifetime_ at the aquarium"

"Well, I'm glad you like it here" said Lino. "You'd better get some sleep now"

"Goodnight sir"

"Goodnight"


	7. Kidnapped

Chapter 7

That night, Melanie lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. It was almost impossible to get any sleep because it was so hot. Melanie had been tossing and turning for at least two hours but still couldn't sleep.

She looked over at Squash, who was also swimming around in an agitated manner.

"You know, I think we just need something to eat" Melanie had not eaten since the meeting and was very hungry. "We'll probably be able to sleep a lot better" she said. "Come on Squash, let's go"

The food was stocked in a large area at the back of the kitchen. Melanie could navigate her way around the ship quite easily now, so it wouldn't be hard just to take a small trip to the kitchen.

She swam out through her bedroom door, Squash holding onto her dorsal fin and shut the door behind her. The corridors were dark but there were small lights attached to the walls here and there along the way.

The corridors of the Titanic had a creepy vibe at night. Melanie wasn't extremely afraid of the dark or anything like that but she decided that she wanted to get back to her room as soon as possible.

Melanie turned a corner and swam into a new corridor. This corridor was decorated with all kinds of strange, old fashioned ornaments. In the small glow of the lamps on the walls, they cast weird looking shadows. Melanie noticed the shape of each shadow as she swam past; photo frames...trophies...suit of armour...candlestick...shark...

_Shark_.

With a gasp, Melanie swung around to face whoever it was...

Nothing. The shark shadow had disappeared.

"H-hello?" Melanie stammered nervously into the dimly-lit corridor. "Is anyone there?"

No reply.

'Stop it' Melanie told herself. 'You're just imagining things, don't be silly'

Melanie looked at the corridor in front of her. She could just see the kitchen entrance from where she was. She would be there in just a few seconds. Melanie gathered her courage and began to swim forwards but Squash stayed right where he was, a serious expression on his face.

Something was not right.

Suddenly there was a soft thump, as if someone had accidentally bumped against the wall. When Melanie turned around, nobody was there.

"Come on Squash" she said. "We're right near the door now"

Melanie turned around to open the door that led into the kitchen. She almost fainted in terror.

Standing there, blocking the entrance with a jagged smile on his face was Don Fienberg.

Melanie screamed and immediately turned to swim away but it was too late. An enormous bull shark grabbed her from behind and pinned her to the floor, gagging her with something that looked like a giant handkerchief. Melanie lashed out and yelled for all she was worth but she knew that no-one would hear her muffled screams.

"Tie her up!" she heard Fienberg yell at his thugs. A strange-looking shark swam over with a rope and began tying her up. She wriggled and tried to fight them off but it was no use. The bull shark was much too heavy and way too strong to get off.

The strange-looking shark finished tying the last few knots and moved back. Melanie could see all three of the captors now. Fienberg grinned at her in triumph. "Try to escape now pretty lady!" Melanie glared back at him in fury.

"Take her downstairs" said Fienberg. "I'll deal with her"

The bull shark moved in, picked her up, slung her over his shoulder and followed the other two sharks.

This was crazy. These sharks weren't in charge. Don Lino would punish them for this if he found out what they were doing. Melanie tried banging her head against the bull shark's shoulders but it was a useless effort. He was too strong.

They were now swimming through a much narrower corridor. They came to a single door marked with the number 13. Don Fienberg's room.

The bull shark dumped Melanie on the ground. She hit her snout hard against the splintering floorboards.

Melanie realised that the strange-looking shark was a cookie cutter shark. His name was Stephen. (**A.N.** For those of you who don't know, there actually is a type of shark called a cookie cutter shark-they're pretty ugly!)

The bull shark swam over to a fish tank and yanked out a piranha. With one bite, he had severed its head and dorsal fin. "Jeremy, stop screwin' around and get on with the job!" snapped Fienberg. Jeremy tossed the bloody remains of the piranha aside and went to where the other two sharks were.

Fienberg grinned evilly at Melanie. "You think that the Don likes you eh? I mean after all, you're so popular with the sharks, so intelligent...so beautiful..."

That last remark made Melanie want to rip him to shreds.

Fienberg's grin became wider. "Well let's see him save you this time shall we?"

His expression suddenly became sour. "I'm sick of sharks younger than me getting top positions, especially female sharks! I'm going to cut you up-_alive!_"

An evil smile spread across his face, enjoyed Melanie's terrified expression. "Yes...I'm gonna start with your pectoral fins first! Then your tail fins and finally...your HEAD!" Fienberg erupted in a fit of malicious laughter, while Melanie lay there hopelessly with no idea how to escape.

Fienberg charged and gnashed his teeth at her, tearing of a corner of her left pectoral fin. Melanie let out a muffled scream of pain, blood flowing freely from her wound.

"Come on let's go!" said Fienberg. "We'll finish the job later!"

Melanie watched them leave the room. They would be back soon, to finish her off-painfully. She felt something swim out from behind her dorsal fin. "Squash!" she tried to say, but the gag prevented her from talking.

Squash was holding something in his mouth-a thick piece of kelp. He gently wrapped it around what was left of Melanie's pectoral fin. Gradually, the bleeding stopped.

Melanie knew that she would need to send Squash to get help if she wanted to get out of this room. Luckily, during her time at the aquarium, Melanie had learned to use sign language to speak to Squash. This would be a good time to use it. She wriggled just enough to free her right pectoral fin and made various shapes and movements to get her message across to Squash.

Squash understood and nodded. Then he sped off as fast as he could. Melanie looked at him thankfully. He was a true friend.

Squash rushed through the corridors. He had to hurry. The bad sharks could be back any moment and then it would be too late to save Melanie. Luckily, he knew just the shark to find; Don Lino. He would tear the bad sharks to pieces and save Melanie.

Squash moved faster and faster past the bedrooms of the sleeping sharks. He couldn't let Melanie down. She had been such a good friend to him. She had taken care of him every time he got sick in the aquarium and had protected her against the bad sharks. Now it was up to him to save her life.

He turned a corner and went down a new corridor. Then he stopped at the door of a room; Room number 1.

This _had _to be the boss's room. It was the biggest room he had seen in the ship. Squash knocked on the door as loudly as he could. He hoped that the boss wouldn't eat him alive.

The door opened and the boss was standing there, looking at him. How was Squash going to tell him? Making many gestures with his fins, he managed to get his message across.

The boss looked half worried and half angry. He then called the octopus and two other sharks and went towards the bad shark's room.

Melanie was starting to get worried. She knew that Don Lino would come and do something about this and punish Don Fienberg and his goons in some way or another, but what if he didn't make it in time? What if Fienberg had attacked Squash on his way to get help?

'I have to get out of here' she thought. 'I shouldn't just rely on everyone to come and save me'

Melanie thought about how she was going to escape. She knew that the first step would be to get the ropes off. Then she could get rid of the gag.

She looked around. There was nothing much in the room that would help her. There was a small bed in the corner, and a tank of piranha fish beside it. Melanie looked around to see if there was something sharp like a knife which she could use. Nothing.

'Come on, think!' she said to herself. 'You'll need something _sharp_'

She looked over at the tank of piranhas and noticed something. Jeremy had left the lid open. Then, Melanie had a crazy idea.

Trying not to hurt her shredded pectoral fin, she rolled towards the piranha tank until her back was facing the piranhas. They would be attracted to the blood coming from her fin. She looked at their razor-sharp teeth. Perfect for cutting ropes. She knew that the piranhas would bite her and nip at her but she knew that she would be able to fight them off easily once the ropes were off. Besides, it was either this or getting her head bitten off by Don Fienberg.

Bravely, she stuck out her injured fin so that the blood flowed towards the piranhas. They smelled the blood and Melanie quickly withdrew her fin so that they wouldn't injure it any further.

Melanie could now feel the sharp teeth on her back. They were cutting the ropes! Her plan was working. Now and then, she felt a bite on her dorsal fin and winced in pain.

The ropes were now completely cut. Melanie didn't waste any time. Wriggling out of the severed ropes, she turned on the piranhas, snapping at them. They stopped biting her at once and darted back into the tank, cowering behind a rock.

Melanie was finally free, or so she thought. Just as she had yanked off the gag with her good fin, Don Fienberg burst into the room and gave a shout of rage. Melanie could tell that he had been drinking. His eyes were red with drowsiness and the smell of liquor was overwhelming.

He roared and charged madly at her, but she was too quick for him. She moved out of the way just in time and watched as Fienberg smashed into the piranha tank, scattering rocks, weeds and piranhas in all directions. The angry piranhas latched onto his dirty face.

Shaking them off, he tried to tear off Melanie's other pectoral fin. Melanie swam under him and bit hard into his flank. She then took advantage of this and bit him several times behind the dorsal fin.

Fienberg shook himself and chased her around the room, shouting "I'LL GET YA IF ITS THE LAST THING I EVER DO!"

He charged at her, knocking her into a spot in between the bed and the destroyed piranha tank. She was cornered and helpless.

This was it. There was no escape now. She would die a slow and painful death and no-one would be there to witness it or bring Fienberg to justice.

Fienberg smiled in triumph. His jaws opened wide, ready to tear her head off...

...and snapped shut as he was flung backwards.

Melanie almost started crying with relief. Don Lino had arrived with Giuseppe and Lorenzo and Luca. Squash was leading them.

Fienberg charged at her again, but Luca was quick. A black cloud of ink billowed in Fienberg's face, cutting him off from Melanie.

Melanie was also confused but Luca emerged from the black cloud and took her right fin, which still wasn't injured. "Come on, this way" he said, guiding her towards the door.

As Melanie swam out through the door, she could see the fight happening in the room. Don Lino, Giuseppe and Lorenzo were fighting Fienberg and his thugs.

Melanie watched as Giuseppe knocked out the cookie cutter shark, Stephen. He went sprawling on the ground. Don Lino charged at Jeremy, who was in the process of tackling Lorenzo. Jeremy had to be tranquilized with a dart gun that Lorenzo was carrying. This had been found on a human boat and was therefore used only when it was really needed. Finally, it came down to Fienberg.

Giuseppe and Lorenzo had Fienberg cornered against a wall. Don Lino looked at him directly in the eye. "Are you gonna explain what you were doing here?" he demanded.

Fienberg looked like he was about to die. "W-well sir...umm...we were j-just...err...umm..." he stammered, making absolutely no sense at all. Then, he suddenly gained confidence and took a deep breath. "I AM SICK OF STUPID, YOUNG FEMALE SHARKS GETTING HIGHER POSITIONS THAN ME!" he yelled, pointing accusingly at Melanie, who flinched.

"So you decided to kill her huh? That's how you solve your problem?"

"As a punishment, you will face the Shredder and your position within the top group of sharks will be taken away from you"

Fienberg was seething with anger and defeat. He looked at Giuseppe, who was standing on guard next to him. He spat in the hammerhead's face but Giuseppe didn't move.

Melanie didn't know what the Shredder was, but it sure didn't sound very pleasant.

By now, other tough-looking sharks and killer whales had started to crowd inside the room. "Get in line!" Lino ordered them. The sharks and killer whales got into two lines, one line facing the other, with a walkway in between.

Giuseppe and Lorenzo pushed Fienberg to one end of the shark corridor. Don Lino looked at all the sharks who had gathered in the room. There were now mother sharks and even some younger sharks.

Luca took his position in front of the observing sharks. He gestured at Fienberg and announced: "This shark has been found guilty of assaulting another member of the mob and shall now face the Shredder!"

He looked coldly at Fienberg. "Swim" he said

Melanie watched as Fienberg took a deep breath and started swimming through the corridor of sharks. As he swam through, the sharks and killer whales in the formation snapped at him, bit him, spat in his face, tore at his hide and threw rotten old fish bones at him.

Although Fienberg was getting what he deserved, it was a horrible sight to behold. Melanie felt something nudge her tail fin. She looked down and saw a baby shark staring at the gore in the room. He looked like he was about to cry. There was an expression of terror in his little eyes. Little sharks shouldn't have to see this. Melanie gently picked him up and turned him away from the horrible sight. "There, there, it's going to be okay" she said.

Melanie could now understand why this punishment was called 'the Shredder'. By the time Fienberg came out through the other end of the corridor, he was torn, bruised and filthier than ever.

"Okay everybody go to your rooms now!" ordered Lino. The sharks obeyed at once.

Melanie saw that the baby shark had fallen asleep in her fins. But where was his mother? She looked around and saw a female shark with a worried look on her face. The shark saw Melanie with her pup and gave a sigh of relief. "Oh thank God, I was so worried!" she said as Melanie handed her the sleeping pup.

"Here's your baby"

She looked at Melanie gratefully. "Thank-you. You're so kind."

"You're welcome"

Melanie felt rather daunted after watching what had happened to Fienberg. She felt uneasy and slightly guilty herself. Don Lino saw her and swam over after everyone had gone.

"I'm sorry about all that" he said, looking very upset himself. "Thanks for saving my life again" said Melanie. "But couldn't you have just taken his position away? Did you really _have_ to give him the Shredder?"

"It had to be done" Lino said. "It's the only way to make him listen. We've tried goin' easy on him but he just keeps killing more sharks and challenging my authority."

Melanie nodded. She understood now. It was a harsh life, living in the Titanic, especially if you're a leader. If you weren't tough, you'd be killed or overthrown by stronger opponents. That was just the way things were down here.


End file.
